Father and the Son and the Spirit,
three in one. Number 21. Made in eternal ages
past, made of covenant, sure and fast. God my Father chose
his own in the person of his Son, and ordained that I should
be one with him eternally. God the Son agreed to come in
the flesh to bring me home. He would keep God's holy law
and retrieve me from the fall. Christ in love so willingly Stood
as my great surety For my price He offered blood To appease the
wrath of men God the Spirit, heavenly dove,
promised to come down in love, bringing life and peace and grace
to the chosen Church's grace. He seeks the lost, heals the
lame, and He brings us to the Lamb. By His mighty sovereign
call, God's elect are gathered all. This poor sinner is secure,
for God's covenant will endure. It is sealed by God's own word,
by His Spirit and His blood. Blessed Holy Covenant God, I
am yours by ties of blood, ties of grace and ties of love. Hold me to my God above. Please be seated. We're going to begin in Mark
chapter 4 this morning, if you'd like to turn with me there in
your Bibles. Mark chapter 4. Before we begin, there is a sign-up
sheet on the back table for a cover dish luncheon that we're going
to have on the 15th, which I think is three weeks from now. Is that
right? Hope you can be a part of that.
Also, Donnie and Jeanette Briggs are now officially Floridians.
They moved here permanently and supposed to close in their house
in Grenada, well in the Lord's time. They're on island time
down there, so things are dragging on. But we're so thankful, so
happy to have you all here. Let's pray together. Our Heavenly
Father, that covenant that is ordered
and sure. Your purpose and promises in
salvation before time ever began. That is our hope, Lord, that
you are faithful to your promises and that you are a God that cannot
lie. that the Lord Jesus Christ was
successful in accomplishing everything that he promised to do, and that
you have received him back into glory, and that he's seated and
reigning, having finished the salvation of your people. Lord, we pray that you would
Give us your spirit and enable us to set our affections on things
above where Christ is seated at that right hand. We pray that
you would open your word, open our hearts, reveal to us the
mystery of the gospel. For we ask it in the name of
the Lord Jesus Christ and for his sake and his glory. Amen. Mark chapter four, verse 34 says,
but without a parable spake he not unto them. And then he goes on to say, but when
they were alone, he expounded all things unto his disciples. Later on, the disciples asked
him, Lord, why do you speak in parables? And our Lord said,
because unto you, it is given to know
the mystery of the kingdom of God, but unto them that are without
all things are done in parables. The gospel is a mystery hid in
a parable. And, Only if the Lord gives us
ears to hear can we hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
Our hope is that the Lord will expound unto us the meaning of
the parable. An example of what I'm saying
is found in Ephesians chapter five, when the Lord speaks of
the husband and wife relationship. And then he concludes that passage
by saying, this is a great mystery, but I speak unto you concerning
Christ and his church. How many times I've heard Ephesians
chapter five, expounded on in reference to wives submitting
them to their husbands. And, you know, if a man has to tell
someone that he's in charge, he's not. Authority is something that is
earned, isn't it? It's something that's earned
by sacrificial love and service. But a person who can't understand
the parable of Ephesians chapter 5 will only come to those conclusions. Truth is, if a man is submitted
to Christ as his husband, he won't have any trouble with his
relationship with his wife. That's, he won't be insisting
on his wife submit to him as well. Turn with me to Colossians chapter
two. Colossians chapter two. Look with me at verse one. For
I would, that you knew what great conflict I have for you and for
them at Laodicea and for many as have not seen my face in the
flesh, that their hearts might be comforted being knit together
in love unto all the riches of the full assurance of understanding
to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God and of the Father
and of Christ in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and
knowledge. The gospel seems like every time
we get in any sort of discussion with someone over the gospel,
it always boils down to what is the gospel? What is the gospel? And the word gospel means good
news. And the reason why the gospel
is good news is because the Lord did not leave any part of it
undone. He didn't leave anything left
for us to do in order for salvation to be complete. The Lord Jesus
Christ did it all, and He did it all by Himself, and it's good
news. If there's something left for me to do in order for me
to be saved, that's not good news. I'm never sure if I did
it right. I'm never sure if I did it enough.
I'm not sure if I've committed enough. But the gospel is good
news because it's all about the person and the work of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And this is a mystery to the
natural man. It is contrary to everything
he thinks by nature. And unless the Lord reveals to
him who Christ is and what the Lord Jesus Christ actually accomplished
on Calvary's cross, he'll hold to some gospel that is dependent
upon his will or his works. The Lord said, I speak to this
mystery is hid in God. In order for us to have the mystery
revealed, the Lord has to reveal it. Turn with me to Romans chapter
16. Look at verse 25. Now unto him that is of power
to establish you according to my gospel, and the preaching
of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery,
which was kept secret since the world began, but now is made
manifest by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the
commandment of the everlasting God made known to all nations
for the obedience of faith. These things have been hid from
the beginning of time, and now Now, by the Word of God, they
are revealed. So only as the Spirit of God
is pleased to anoint the Word of God and open the hearts of
the child of God, can the mystery of the gospel be believed by
faith. Over just a page from where you
are in 1 Corinthians 2, 1 Corinthians 2, but without a parable speaking
out unto them. The gospel remains hidden. It remains a parable. It remains
a mystery to the natural man. He cannot see it. He cannot understand
it. He cannot believe it. The Lord
has to reveal it. And the child of God is saying,
Lord, open the eyes of my understanding. Lord, give me faith. Lord, I'm
dependent upon you. to know who Christ is and to
believe on him. 1 Corinthians 2, and I, brethren,
when I came to you, came not with the excellency of speech
or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God, for
I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ
and him crucified. The person and work of the Lord
Jesus Christ, that is the gospel. Who is he? Who is he? Is He the sovereign, successful
Savior of sinners? Is He the omnipotent Son of God? Is He dependent upon me for anything? No. Save Jesus Christ and Him
crucified. Was His crucifixion an offer
of salvation? To be made complete by something
that I have to do? Or was his crucifixion on Calvary's
cross a finished work of redemption for his elect people? When he
bowed his head on Calvary's cross and said, it is finished, was
it finished? Or was there still something left to be done? Paul
said, I am determined. I didn't come with you with wisdom
or knowledge or any sort of enticing speech. I came to you to preach
Christ and Him crucified, who He is and what He did. Look at verse three. And I was
with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. My speech
and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom,
but in demonstration of the spirit and of power. Thus the spirit
of God in power takes the word of God and applies it to the
hearts of God's people. No other speech or convincing
or persuasion will matter. that your faith should not stand
in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. How be it we
speak wisdom among them that are perfect, yet not the wisdom
of the world, nor the princess of this world that come to naught.
But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden
wisdom, which God ordained before the world for our glory." This wisdom of God. Who is the
Lord Jesus Christ? God has made him to be unto us,
our wisdom, our righteousness, our sanctification, and our redemption. The gospel is a person. It's
Christ Jesus, the Lord, and what he accomplished, successfully
saving his people. God has to reveal him to us.
Paul said, I speak a mystery. Look at verse eight, which none
of the princes of this world knew, for had they known it,
they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. For as it
is written, I have not seen nor ear heard, neither has it entered
into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them
that love him. Look at the next verse, but.
but God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit. For the Spirit
searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what
man knoweth the things that are in a man, save the Spirit of
that man which is in him? Even so, the things of God knoweth
no man but the Spirit of God. Now we've not received the Spirit
of the world, but the Spirit which is of God, that we might
know the things that are freely given us of God. Every objection to what and who we believe ultimately
boils down to what is the gospel, or who is the gospel. Scripture refers to, Paul said
in Romans chapter 1 verse 16, he said, I'm not ashamed of of
the gospel of God, for it is the power of God unto salvation
to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first and also to the
Greek. The gospel, the gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ, it is the power of God unto salvation. Scripture refers to the gospel
as the gospel of peace, the gospel of the kingdom. the rule and
reign of the Lord Jesus Christ over his people. The peace that we have with God
through the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the gospel. Scripture
refers to the gospel as the everlasting gospel. It's not a new gospel. It is the message of salvation
that was established in the covenant of grace before time ever was.
God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit entered
into a covenant promise to save a particular people. This is
the gospel. The Lord Jesus Christ is called
the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. And so even before
he was slain on Calvary's cross, in this covenant promise, the
Lord Jesus Christ laid down his life for his people. And God
has always seen his elect in Christ. This is a great mystery. This is a parable. It's a hidden truth. He spake to them in nothing but
parables. Ask him, Lord, why? Because unto
you it's been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God,
but unto them that are without it's not given. The Bible refers
to the gospel as the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. It is his gospel. It belongs
to him. And he gives it freely to his
people. The gospel of your salvation. The power of God unto salvation.
Apart from this gospel, there's no salvation. There's no forgiveness
of sin. There's no peace with God. No
hope. Apart from the gospel. What good
news this gospel is. It is the mystery of the truth
of God revealed in the word of God. You think about it, everybody
has a source of authority. I would ask you this morning,
what is your source of authority? Generally, it boils down to two
things. The Greeks seek after wisdom and the Jews a sign. And what does that mean? It means
that all men either have one or the other as a source of authority. You hear people say, well, you
know, I'm open-minded and I like to consider all the different
points of view and then come to my own conclusion. And they've
established themselves as their own source of authority. And
they pride themselves in thinking that that's something modern
or something new. You know, before the kings were
given to Israel, the scripture says, and every man did what
was right in his own eyes. He came to his own conclusions
about things. He evaluated the circumstances
and he did what he thought was right. That's just Greek philosophy. Matter of fact, we could take
it all the way back to Cain. Cain knew from what Adam had
told him that a blood sacrifice was necessary, but Cain thought,
well, I'm open-minded and I'll consider all the different possibilities
and I'll offer to God what I want to offer to God. And so he became
a law unto himself. It's just Greek philosophy. What
is your source of authority? Are you your source of authority?
Are you capable? of making that judgment and that
discernment on your own? And the other source of authority
is the Jews' source of authority, which boils down to tradition, the opinions of men. You know
what? The Lord said, you have heard
of your fathers of old, but I say unto you, See, they were depending
upon the traditions of the elders to discern truth from error,
right from wrong. So we have today, we have men
with confessions and creeds and documents that say, well, this
is your source of authority. What is your source of authority?
You're either going to be your own source of authority, or you're
going to be looking to the opinions of others as the source of your
authority, or the Word of God is going to become
your source of authority. Whatever God says, every single
word is true and reliable and faithful. It's God's Word. It's God's Word. And all scripture
is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine
and for reproof and for correction and instruction in righteousness
that the man of God may be thoroughly furnished unto all good works.
And no scripture came by private interpretation, but holy men
of God wrote as they were moved by the spirit of God. You see,
the child of God just bows to the word of God. God is my source
of authority and his word is my source of authority and the
natural man won't bow. He won't believe. The mystery of the gospel is
revealed in the word of God. Scriptures can only be understood
in light of the gospel. Peter put it like this, and this
is the word. He said, all flesh is its grass. And he said, the word of God
is everlasting. And this is the word which by
the gospel is preached unto you. So if the gospel of God's free
grace in the glorious person and finished work of the Lord
Jesus Christ is not being preached, then the Bible's not being believed. The word of God's not being preached.
Christ is the word of God. And the written word just reveals
the living word. But men will take the Bible and
they'll turn it into nothing more than a book of principles
and rules and regulations and trinkets of truth that might
help them get through life. Isaiah put it like this. He said,
the scripture has been given precept by precept. Line upon
line, here a little, there a little. And that's true. That's how we
understand the word of God. He gives it to us in small measures. The writer of the Proverbs says,
if you found honey, and that's the word of God, Eat it in small
measures, such as convenient for you, lest you vomit it up. Don't try to take too much. Line
upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, there a little.
But unto you, Isaiah goes on to say, it was nothing more than
precept upon precept, line upon line, here a little, there a
little, that you might stumble and fall over it. What's the
Lord saying? He's saying the same thing he
said to the Pharisees. You search the scriptures because you think
in them you have eternal life, but these are they which testify
of me. A man will take the Bible and they'll
try to draw from it precepts and conclusions and principles
to help them in life and they'll miss Christ. They miss Christ. He's the mystery of the gospel.
He's the hidden one. He is the parable. And that's what men can't see apart
from a miracle of grace. Unless the Lord reveals Christ
to us, we'll find everything else and the gospel will remain
a mystery to us. You have your Bibles open in
1 Corinthians 2. I think that's where we just
read. Look over just to your left to chapter 1. Verse 19,
for it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I
will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the
wise? Where is the scribe? Where is
the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the
wisdom of this world? For after that in the wisdom
of God, the world by wisdom knew not God. It pleased God by the
foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. So it's the preaching of Christ
from the Word of God, empowered by the Spirit of God, open in
the eyes of the children of God to rest their hope upon the Son
of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. And the wisdom of this world.
You know, the great philosophers of the world, most of them were
were Greek philosophers, 2nd and 3rd century BC Greek philosophers. And that's what Paul's referring
to. That's what God's referring to here. When man by wisdom knew
not God, all the philosophies of the world does not reveal
the mystery of the gospel, the nature of Christ, the hope of
salvation. This has to be revealed by God. And he uses the foolishness of
preaching to do it. The reason why the gospel is
hid is not because it's complicated. No, we speak the simplicity of
Christ. It's not because it's mysterious
or hard to understand. It's not for the elite. No, it's contrary to everything
that man believes. Man has to be brought to repentance. He has to have his mind changed.
He has to have all of his thinking. You know, it's not that we, you
know, people hear us and they think, well, you just have a
different emphasis on the gospel. No, no. It's another gospel. And 1 Corinthians chapter 1,
Scripture makes it, or Galatians chapter 1, the Scripture makes
it clear that there is but one gospel. All these other gospels
and other Jesus's and other gods are false gospels. Turn with me to 2 Corinthians
chapter 4. 2 Corinthians chapter 4. Look at verse three. But if our gospel be hid, it
is hid to them that are lost. to whom the God of this world
hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light
of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should
shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves,
but Christ Jesus, the Lord, and ourselves, your servants, for
Jesus' sake." So if a man believes not the gospel of God, it's because
he's under the delusion of the devil. That's what the Lord's
saying. That's pretty clear. If he believes
not the gospel of God, it's because he's under the delusion of Satan. The God of this world has blinded
the minds. Turn with me to chapter three
in 2 Corinthians. 2 Corinthians chapter three. Look at verse... Look at verse 12, seeing then
that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech. We're not speaking in riddles. We're using great simplicity
and plainness of speech, but it remains a mystery and it remains
a parable. And not as Moses, which put a
veil over his face that the children of Israel could not steadfastly
look to the end of that which is abolished. What the Lord's
telling us here is that men can't believe the gospel because they're
still measuring their salvation by their works. By their works. The gospel is all of grace. But their minds were blinded,
for until this day remaineth the same veil untaken away in
the reading of the Old Testament, which veil is done away in Christ. For even unto this day, when
Moses is read, the veil is upon their heart. Nevertheless, when
it, the heart, shall turn to the Lord, the veil shall be taken
away. Men can't believe the gospel
because they're still looking to their law keeping as the hope
of their salvation. They're still looking to what
they're doing and what they're not doing as the hope of their
salvation. Child of God, you know your flesh
remains with you because there's not a day that goes by that you're
not tempted to do that. And that's why you have to keep
hearing the gospel, because the accuser of the brethren is always
there to point out your sin and say to you, if you were really
a child of God, you wouldn't be thinking that, you wouldn't
be acting that way, you wouldn't say that. And then your heart
is gripped with fear because you're not looking to Christ,
you're looking to your law keeping as the hope of your salvation.
And when it, the heart, is turned to Christ, the veil is taken
away. Now some will hear that and say,
are you advocating lawless living? You know I'm not. You know I'm
not. The only power against sin that
we have is grace, not the law. The strength of sin is the law. You put yourself under the law,
or you put someone else under the law and all you're gonna
do is aggravate sin. The only power against sin is
grace. Child of God, let me speak to
you for just a moment because I'm sure that you may be thinking
as I often think, Yes, the mystery of the gospel has been revealed
to me in Christ. Christ is my hope. He's my life. He's my salvation. And it's clear from scripture
that that is the gospel. And yet, oftentimes it seems
obscure. Do I really know Christ? We have a firm hope in Christ
as the anchor of our soul. And yet it seems like that it
could slip away anytime. We have faith. And yet with that
faith, we have fear. We have confidence. And at the
same time, we are apprehensive. We have joy and sorrow mingled
together. This is the paradox of the believer's
walk of faith. Listen to what Peter said, and
matter of fact, let's turn to this passage. This is so encouraging.
First Peter, chapter four. Job put it like this, he said,
I have escaped by the skin of my teeth. Child of God, do you
feel sometimes that you're being saved by the skin of your teeth?
That it's there and it's not there and you believe and you
don't believe and you... Look what Peter said. 1 Peter
4, and we'll begin reading at verse 17. For the time has come
that judgment must begin at the house of God. And if it first
begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the
gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely
be saved, where shall the ungodly and sinner appear? Child of God,
do you feel sometimes like you're scarcely being saved? Like your
skin of your teeth? Well, that's our, that's our
walk. That's our walk. We, we do believe
Lord helped out my non-belief. We always cry with blind Bartimaeus,
O Lord, that I might see or the gospel is clear and obscure to
me at the same time. Lord, give me eyes to see. Lord, save me. David put it like this, he said,
My sin is ever before me. Lord, have mercy upon me. We come here today because we
have a need. We have a need. Someone said, well,
why'd so-and-so stop coming to church? You know, I guess they
don't have a need. I guess they don't have a need. Now some people come because
their need is related to their circumstances in life. And so,
you see that when circumstances are difficult and they're very
faithful and then things get better and all of a sudden they're
not so faithful. What is your need? If your need is your sin and
your unbelief, That, you know, as you grow in
grace and in the knowledge of Christ, that need grows too,
doesn't it? You see more and more of your
need for Christ. That need never goes away. Men take that passage in 2 Corinthians
10. where the Lord said, there have
no temptation taken you but such as is common to man. But God
is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above that
which you are able. And they stop right there. They
say, God, there's a promise right there. God won't put more on
you than you can bear. If God never puts more on you
than you can bear, then you don't need him. And if he ever puts
your sin on you, You'll be looking for a substitute. You'll be looking
for a sin bearer. You'll be looking for a surety,
one who will stand in your stead before God and bear your sins
and put them away by the sacrifice of himself. And the rest of that
verse says, but will provide a way of escape that you might
be able to bear it. Christ Jesus is the way of escape
for our sin. The gospel, the gospel, this
parable, this mystery that is hid in God, that is all about
the glorious person and the finished, accomplished work of the Lord
Jesus Christ is for sinners. It's for sinners. Sinners find their hope in Christ. They have a great need. for the
gospel. Our Heavenly Father, bless us with the knowledge of
Christ, hope in Christ, forgive us of our sin for Christ's sake. Amen.